Digging My Scene

Once upon a time there lived two very wonderful bunnies called Santa and Jemima. Santa was a friendly white bunny with pink eyes and funny floppy ears. Jemima was a wise black bunny with sticky-up ears and velvety fur. Their human loved them so very much, he built them a shed to live in with a 10 foot run attached so they could play outside whenever they wanted.

And did the human stop there?! Certainly he did not! For this human knew that the bunnies who did not live with people had much bigger spaces to play in. So twice a day at the very least, with their human watching over them to keep them safe, Santa and Jemima's shed door was left open. With a hop and a jump, Santa and Jemima would run out into the garden to play on the grass. They would run very fast, they would jump very high and then they would EAT the grass - because that's what bunnies do! All this until they were tired and then their human would lead them back to their shed and run with a nice treat.

"Did someone say 'treat'?"

And did the human stop there?! Certainly he did not! For this human knew that the bunnies who did not live with people had much bigger spaces to play in still. So twice a day at the very least, with their human watching over them to keep them safe, with the shed door open so they could play on the grass, the door to the human house was opened too. With this extra space, those bunnies could run and run, in and out of the shed, over the grass, in and out of the house. Sometimes they would run from the near of the run to the far of the house without stopping and then back again! Sometimes they would play hide and seek with their human, disappearing behind the tunnels and bends and hidey places behind the sofas until it was time for their treat. This could make their human sad, because he worried so if he could not find them anywhere. But then a little fluffy head would appear from behind a chair and all would be right again! Even though this game sometimes made him sad, the human saw how happy it made his bunnies, so he always let them play behind the sofas and always smiled when they reappeared after their hide-and-seek games.

"We win! Now, you go hide and we'll try and find you. Or the food tub, whichever turns up (or over) first..."

One day, a new bunny arrived. This bunny was called Whisky and he had funny floppy ears like Santa, but unlike Santa he was grey like a pearl.

"I do not have a shed for you and I do not have a run" said the human, "for I only have the one and that one it is taken. But I can offer you a room in my house if you would like?"

The little grey bunny glared back at the human.

"I do not WANT to live outside. There are flies there and they try to lay eggs in my sickly bottom and my sickly eyes" he said. "Plus, I am sickly, and sickly bunnies become more sickly when exposed to the cold. So a room in your warm house I will take, kind sir, just lead onward and I shall follow."

The human nodded and took Whisky and his bags to his room.

"No, no, no, this won't do at all! Move my bed nearer the window then bring me three more tunnels and a plate of grated 'welcome carrots'."

Some time later, after his new guest had settled in, the human smelled a most peculiar smell. He hunted high and he hunted low but could he find from whence it came? No he could not!

"Do you smell that smell?" he asked his house-guest.

"I cannot say I know to what you refer" snorted Whisky.

Not five minutes later, Whisky disappeared behind the sofa for a few moments before returning to his seat.

"There it is again!" said the human. And when he searched again for this most peculiar smell, he discovered a most peculiar thing - the tiny house-guest had been using the corners of the room as a toilet!

Well after that the human blocked off those behind-the-sofa places and that little bunny Whisky was forced to use the litter tray for his toilet like everybunny else.

Some months passed, as, sadly, did those outdoor bunnies and even bunnies that came after. But then one day a new set of bunnies came to stay and with them came all manner of tasty food. One day while making their dinner, a couple of pellets of this food fell behind the sofa. As if by magic, Whisky appeared.

"Does my nose deceive me?" he asked. "Or does behind this mountainous sofa a land of delicious treats itself hide?"
But he could not climb this mountainous sofa. Nor could he go around it. And try as he might, he could not find a way through it.

"I know! I'll go under!" he cried.

So he dug and he dug and he dug and he dug.

And he dug and he dug and he dug and he dug.

"There is no magical land of snacks - they came from the pet-shop!" the human explained. But the little grey bunny would not listen.

So he dug and he dug and he dug and he dug.

And he dug and he dug and he dug and he dug.

The human looked at the result of all this effort. Several small scratches in the solid floor, nothing more. He felt sad for that bunny. So much effort with so little gain.

But then he had an idea.

"Look over there! Is that a carrot truck?" he called out.

"Where???!!!" Whisky replied and raced out of the room.

Quickly, the human took a big thick newspaper and placed it in the corner by the sofa.

"Must have missed it" said Whisky as he skipped back in.

"Not that there's anything stopping you grabbing me one from the kitchen and whacking it thru the grater, just sayin'...""

Quickly returning to his corner, Whisky began to dig. To his surprise and delight, big chunks of the floor came away under the mighty power of his claws. After all this time, he was finally getting somewhere!

Well dear readers, I can't tell you if that little bunny ever did reach that magical land of treats. But I do know he slept very soundly that night after tiring himself out with all that work. And do you know what? Seeing his little boy so happy and fulfilled, so did his human.

Now the clear up the next day? That's another story altogether.